Mind Magic
This page contains Model canon information about mind magic. Learned Legilimency Nature of Legilimency Legilimency is the art of magically delving into the minds of others, navigating their thoughts and memories. Whilst most might summarise this most delicate form of magic as simple mind-reading, Legilimency is in truth a far more complex and versatile art that allows its most advanced and ruthless practitioners to impose a measure of their will onto their unfortunate targets. Applications of Legilimency * Legilimency can be used to form a mental bond with another sentient creature. Once established, the Legilimens can read the surface thoughts and feelings of the target. * Outside of combat, it is also possible for a Legilimens to delve deeper into the mind of a target, gaining deeper understanding of their psyche and memories. Learning Legilimency All Legilimency requires some degree of natural aptitude for the mind magic-it is not something that a typical wizard can simply elect to learn. However, for the purpose of the Model, any successful application for Legilimency will assume that the applicant had that natural aptitude-it isn’t something that would need to be passed down through a pure bloodline or anything, and whilst it wouldn’t be common it’s not rare enough to be gated by a quota or otherwise limited. Actually learning the craft would require a teacher capable of Legilimency themselves (having at least attained Proficiency). Natural Legilimens are capable of self-tuition but only after seventh year once they’ve attained mastery of their natural gifts. Legilimens are registered with the Ministry, but illicit shady teachers can be found at higher costs and with possible negative consequences. It is a crime to be capable of Legilimency without having registered yourself. Whilst a Seer can technically learn Legilimency, their unusually structured minds will lead to the mental bond being unstable, causing them to uncontrollably share as much as they take from the mind of their target. Mechanics of Legilimency * You may establish a mental bond with a single target using !cast legilimens. Once you have done so, you may read the surface thoughts, memories and feelings of the target until the mental bond is broken, and tell whether the target is lying. This bond can be made with any sentient creature, including non-sapient beasts. Legilimens can be resisted with Shield Charms or Occlumency. Whilst you can read the mood and honesty of a player without consent, their surface thoughts and memories can only be extracted with consent. * If Legilimens is cast both non-verbally and wandlessly, it can only be resisted with Occlumency, and only an Occlumens who overcomes the attack can recognise the mental attack. All other forms of Learned Legilimency can be perceived by the target. * Out of combat, you may concentrate (as though upon a spell) whilst mentally bonded to ‘deep delve’ into the mind of your target, unearthing hidden memories, thoughts and feelings as you please. A deep delve, and all that is done whilst within one, requires OOC consent if used upon a player. Cost of Legilimency Learned Legilimency costs one Master Token. Learned Occlumency Nature of Occlumency Fundamentally, Occlumency is the art of defending against mental intrusion by a Legilimens. Whilst it requires magical ability to practise Occlumency, it is not a talent that requires a wand. Whilst the discipline was developed to counteract Legilimency, the mental defense it imparts also seems to function with surprising efficacy against potions that might ensnare the senses or otherwise manipulate the mind. Applications of Occlumency * An Occlumens can block the mental bond established by a Legilimens, essentially preventing them from accessing the Occlumens’ mind. * More advanced Occlumens are even capable of manipulating the mental bond, allowing it to be established but presenting false memories, thoughts and feelings that a Legilimens might take to be reality. * This blockade is useless against most mental spells but is also rather effective against Veritaserum and other potions that influence the mind. Learning Occlumency Occlumency can prove relatively straightforward to learn for some, being more mental discipline and technique (although one possible only for one with magical ability) than advanced spell. This does not make it easy to learn, however, and whilst the approaches one might take towards the art can be varied, all typically require some manner of instructor unless one has a true Natural gift for the mind art. Some of the different outlooks that might result in a successful Occlumens include: * Sheer mental discipline and self-control. A sufficiently well-organised and controlled mind is what might be considered the archetypal requirement to Occlude. * A penchant for obsession and dogma. By focusing extremely hard on a single overriding thought and feeling, it is possible to make it difficult for a Legilimens to see anything else. This method can only go so far, however, serving as an ‘entry’ into Occlumency that must be supplemented by another mindset to be truly effective (most often a degree of self-denial or self-deceit exacerbated by the Occlumens’ obsession). * Self-denial or compartmentalisation, unconscious or otherwise. Anyone capable of heavily denying their own thoughts and feelings can make a decent go of Occlumency. Seers and Metamorphmagi suffer from a mental openness due to their respective natural gifts that significantly impedes their ability to shield themselves from Legilimency attacks effectively. Mechanics of Occlumency Occlumency has gone through changes since this page was written. Some points may be outdated. * When targeted by the Legilimens spell, you may !cast Occlude. If your roll matches or exceeds that of the Legilimens roll, they are unable to establish a mental bond. Occlumency mastery allows you to also project false memories and feelings on a successful Occlusion, allowing you to fully misdirect a curious Legilimens. You must use the ‘d’ modifier when defending against combat Legilimency. * When you imbibe an emotion or behaviour-manipulating Potion, you may !cast Occlude with the ‘d’ modifier. If your roll matches or exceeds the DC of the Potion (not the roll used to brew it), the Potion fails to take effect on you. * Metamorphmagi and Seers have an inherent malus of 20 to Occlude, and cannot effectively use the power at all until learning their way up to +0. Once their modifier reaches +10, their natural powers become strongly stilted-A Metamorphmagus’ power is reduced to their year 4 power limit, whilst a Seer’s visions become erratic, fogged and utterly unreliable, with any signs of the future impossible to interpret or profit from. Mastery of Occlumency fully inhibits both powers, although either could be restored if one underwent a significant amount of time training themselves to utterly forget all trace of their Occlumency (which would reset their modifier to -20). Cost of Occlumency Learned Occlumency costs one Journeyman Token. Natural Legilimency Nature of Natural Legilimency A natural gift for Legilimency that far exceeds that which is required to learn the Legilimens spell. Natural Legilimens enjoy the ability to subtly touch upon the thoughts of others without fear of detection. Despite this gift being limited only to surface thoughts, feelings and memories, its potency is nevertheless extremely noteworthy and the incredibly rare power is considered as alarming as it is desirable. Applications of Natural Legilimency * Perceiving the moods, locations and surface thoughts and memories of others. * Facilitating a study of more advanced and structured forms of Legilimency. * Horribly rewriting yourself as a person before you gain control of your power. Inheriting Natural Legilimency Natural Legilimency is an immensely rare inherited gift, passed down through particular magical bloodlines and manifesting extremely uncommonly even amongst those bloodlines. It is believed that as a general rule the power is most common when two relatively unlinked bloodlines with an affinity for Natural Legilimency come together for the first time. Exceeded in rarity only by Parselmouth, and exhibits far less often within a close family than Parselmouth might. Mechanics of Natural Legilimency * Years 1-3: Occasionally a thought from another player or NPC can drift into the legilimens’ mind, and they cannot distinguish between their own thoughts and the thoughts of the other. This should have a fairly significant impact on the Legilimens’ psyche. Thoughts taken from other players require that player’s consent and thus must be clearly asked for each time. ** Optional: Legilimens can also get sucked in by general moods, shifting their own moods easily to reflect their surroundings. ** Optional: Legilimens can make themselves especially vulnerable to erratic or magically vulnerable minds (Metamorphmagi, Seers) * Years 4-6: Legilimens can pick up thoughts more often, and are capable of perceiving IC that the thoughts aren’t their own. The thoughts still impact their psyche, although to a lesser degree since they can consciously acknowledge how alien they are. * Years 7: The power is finally ‘reliable’ and always on, but limited only to surface thoughts. The Legilimens is no longer influenced by the thoughts and emotions they steal (unless they choose to be) but cannot undo the influence of old effects on them. In practise this should mean that the Legilimens is always capable of detecting the presence and mood of those around him, as well as whether they’re lying to them, without requiring consent. However, picking up coherent thoughts and memories from other players still requires consent even at this stage save for the above exceptions. Whilst the subtle nature of natural Legilimency at this level allows it to bypass most Occlumency, Occlumency mastery allows for complete immunity to Natural Legilimency. * Before fourth year, thoughts in a language you do not understand are only partially absorbed - the feelings associated with them influence you, but you do not consciously think in the foreign language or gain any understanding of it. If you understand the language but do not think in it, it is instinctively translated to the language in which you think. Natural Occlumency Nature of Natural Occlumency An inherent aptitude for defensive mind magic, Natural Occlumens are those rare few possessed with a subtle ability to exert magical control over their own minds. This ability could be considered both gift and curse, for while Natural Occlumens may boast uncanny talents and aptitude for Occlumency due to their abilities, the damage that can be done to a developing mind with such a ‘gift’ is immense. Due to the sheer subtlety of the power, Natural Occlumency is not known to exist, and indeed a significant number of Natural Occlumens live and die never realising themself to be gifted, or find themselves misdiagnosed with a mental illness. Applications of Natural Occlumency Natural Occlumens have supernaturally sharp and extensive memories that often stretch back to the point at which the power first manifested, with any gaps in that memory being due to active suppression of thoughts and feelings as a coping mechanism rather than due to actual ability to forget. As they age, the Natural Occlumens gradually gain the ability to directly rewrite their own minds to some limited extent, allowing both for the repair of their minds and, tragically far more often, horrific self-inflicted mental damage. Inheriting Natural Occlumency Whilst Natural Occlumency can be passed down through bloodlines, it is one of the very few natural gifts capable of manifesting somewhat spontaneously in even Muggleborn lineages, perhaps somehow triggered by an extremely rare burst of accidental magic that reshapes the Muggleborn’s magical ability. As such, whilst the ability is exceptionally rare, it is not one that is bound to a specific lineage. Mechanics of Natural Occlumency * Years 1-3: The Occlumens can keep calm, unnaturally so, even in harrowing circumstances. They’re also possessed of an extremely unnatural memory, with powers of recall that stretch well beyond what’s otherwise possible. ** Optional: Natural Occlumens might also have an unusual (but not supernatural) talent for repressing their memories or feelings, stemming from necessity due to their superhuman memories. This doesn’t protect them at all from a mind-reading entity or from emotional magic, but might affect their personality. * Years 4-6: The Natural Occlumens is now capable of perceiving when their feelings or memories have been magically manipulated (except for by themselves), although they have no defense against these manipulations. In times of extreme stress or need they can magically rewrite their own memories. They absolutely believe in the validity of these new memories, which cannot be detected as unnatural or otherwise repaired. ** Optional: Year 4-6 Natural Occlumens can also leach out the emotions associated with a memory, given sufficient need. These emotions cannot be recovered, so the memories become more like lists of facts. This is extremely damaging to the Occlumens and can rewrite their personal growth. * Years 7: The natural Occlumens can now consciously control their own abilities, perfectly rewriting their memories through meditation. They’re all but immune to Memory Charms and other forms of magic that would directly edit their memories, and can generally repair other forms of damage to their mind. The exception to this is damage done to the natural Occlumens by themselves, which can never be truly repaired-if they discover what needs to be fixed, they might be able to rebuild those memories, but the emotions and personal growth from those memories is forever lost. ** Optional: A natural Occlumens’ emotional control does NOT allow them to avoid the mechanical consequences of magic that targets their emotions rather than their memories. Whilst a master natural Occlumens could roleplay that their emotions are relatively unaffected, the mental stress of resisting the effect would be similarly damaging. For example, whilst a natural Occlumens suppressing despair could behave as normal under the effects of a Drink of Despair, they’d still suffer from -4 to all stats. Category:OOC Articles